Apparatus for assembling articles to be packed



1 192 May 7 M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 13 sheets-Sheet l v1 192 May 7 M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 1a Sheets-Sheet 2 WM}M 1,628 596 May 10, 1927. M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 7 l3 Sheets-Sheet 3 y M. .1. MILMOE AIPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED l3 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 22, 1924 M. .J. MlLMOE APPARATUSFOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED May 10 1.927.

Fil ed Nov. 22. 1924 13 Sheets-Sheet 5 1,628,596 May 1927' .1. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 1s Sheets-Sheet 6 May 10, 1927.

W M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 13 Sheets-Sheet 7 1,628 596 May 10, 1927. Mid. NIH-MOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22, 1924 13 Sheets-Sheet 8 ZZZ May 10,1927 1,628,596

M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 13 Sheets-Shea: 9

M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED May 10, 1927. 1,628,596

a C{{iiled NOV- 22. 1924 l3 Sheets-Sheet l0 May a M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED l3 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Nov. 22. 1924 1,628 596 May 10, 1927. M J MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22. 1924 13 she ets-heet 12 1,628,596 M 1927' M. J. MILMOE APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES TO BE PACKED Filed Nov. 22, 1924 13 Sheets-Sheet l3 Iii Liz

Patented May 10, lElZ'Z.

MI HAEL J. IIIILId PANY, OF CHICAG-Q, ILLINOIS. A Ci APPARATUS FOR ASSEll .wLING- .ZRlllC l Application filed November 2 no articles pouredloosely into a hopper and automatically assembled and presented to packing mech an ism.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification and int o process explained in connection therewith, and it is more particulaiy pointed. out in the appended claims. 1

In the drawings.

3 in. 1 is a :lront elevation o'l" a embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation oi? the shown in Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 is rear elevation of the shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of. the shown in Fig. 3.

F ig. 5 is a front elevation of the hopper, showing the arrangement of the chutes and runways for feeding the articles to conveyor having assembling buckets thereon.

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the mechanism siiown in Fig. 5. I

Fig. 7 is a side view of the mechanism shown in Fig. .5, with the assembling conveyor in section.

Fig.5. 8 is a vertical se ional view showing the mechanism for transferring the ussei bled articles to the wrapping apparatus.

Fig. 9 a vertical soc ional view through the hopper and chutes.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional. view through the discharge chutes from the hopper.

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a'number oi? i'lischargg'e chutes.

Fig. 12 is a front elevation of one of the chutes with a part thereof in a changed position.

F is. 13 is a side view of the chute shown in Fig. 12.

Fig. 14: is a top plan view of the chute shown in Fig. 12. i

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of the top portion of the chute shown in. Fig. 12

machine machine machine machine CHICAGO, ILLINOYIS. ASEEGNUR T0 F. 'B. REDINGTON COM- ?ORATIGN OF ILLINOIS.

3 TO 13E PACKED.

2 1924:. Serial N0. 751,686.

Fig. 16 is a front elevation or the guides for receiving the articles from the hopper. Fig. 1.7 is a top plan view of the guides shown in Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 is an end elevation of the guides shown in Fig. 16.

Fig. 19 is a top plan view of one oi? the guides.

Fig. 20 is a side elevation of the top of one of the guides.

Fig. 21 is a section on line 2121 of Fig. 20. i

F in. 22 is a horizontal section substantially on line 22-22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 28 is a vertical section substantially on line 23-23 of Fig. 10.

in my prior Patent No. 1,384,8 1.41: I have shown a machine for feeding confections in the form of briquets or lozenges and for separating a predetermined number of the confections from a continuous series and feeding the number separated into a package.

The embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings is arranged to assemble coniections similar to those shown in connection with my prior patent, but a different method of assembling the briquets is employee. As shown in Fig. 1 the mechanisn'i of the present invention is mounted on a sumaorting frame 1. having a bracket 2 secued to one side thereot upon which a driving motor 5) mounted. The motor 3 is provided with a series of pulleys 4 of different sizes which drive a corresponding series of pulleys 6 througrh the medium of a belt 7. As shown in Fig. 3. the pulleys 6 are secured to a shaft 8 having a flat pulley 9 secured thereto and also carrying a gear 10. The shatt 8 is journaled in a sleeve 11 mounted on a. bracket 12, which is pivoted at 1 on a frame member 14 projecting upwardly from. the main frame 1. The bracket 12 may be swung about its pivot 13 to regulate the tension of the belt 7 and also of a fiat belt 15 which passes about the pulley 9. The bracket 12 is held in its adjusted position by a screw 16, which passes through a slot 17 in the bracket and is threaded into the frame 14. The belt 15 extends downwardly about a pulley 18 loosely mounted on a shaft 19 fixed to a bracket 20 on the main frame 1. A clutch member 22 is tor-med on a sleeve 23 slidably mounted on the shaft 19 and movable into and out of clutching relation with the pulley 18. Gear teeth 24: are formed on the end of the sleeve 23 and mesh with a gear 25 mounted on the main drive shaft 26 of the machine. The gear wheel 25 is held to the shaft 26 by means of a safety drive 27, which holds the gear and shaft together for rotation in unison with one another under the ordinary driving load but which permits disconnection of the gear and shaftin case the mecha nism driven by the shaft is blocked. The shaft 2e carries a beveled gear 28 which meshes with a beveled gear 29 on a second drive shaft 30 extending from front to rear of the machine at right angles to the drive shaft 26. The drive shaft 26 is provided with a hand wheel 31 by means of which the machine may be moved by hand for pur poses of adjustment or inspection, and a second hand wheel 32 is geared to the shaft 30 for a like purpose.

Mounted at the top of the frame let is a hopper 33, into which the articles to be assembled and packed are loosely deposited. The machine illustrated in the drawings is designed for rectangular shaped briquets or lozenges consisting of a chewing gum center having a comparatively hard candy coating. The corners of the briquet are rounded. it will be understood, of course, that the parts of the machine may be proportioned to accommodate articles of various sizes and shapes. As shown in Fig. 9, the hopper is open at its bottom and a pair of drums 3- and 35 are journaled to rotate beneath the opening at the bottom of the hopper. A plate 36 is disposed at one side of the hopper to provide a throat 37 above the roller 31:. The drums 34 and 35 have circumfereutial grooves 38 formed therein and arranged in spaced relation along the drums as shown in Fig. The grooves in the two drums are arranged to register with one another to provide openings through which the brlquets may be fed by gravity, the passage thus formed being of the correct size to accommodate a single briquet atone time. The drums 3st and are driven in opposite dircctions so that the inner adjacent faces of both drums move upwardly. This direction of movement prevents the rotation of the drums from wedging the briquets between the surfaces adjacent the grooves and at the same time continually a gitates the briquets to permit them to enter the passages formed by the circumferential grooves. To assist in the agitation each drum is provided with longitudinally extending grooves 39. Since these longitudinally extending grooves intercept the lines of material between the peripheral grooves 33, it will be apparent that briquets lodged in the groove 39 be tween the grooves 33 might be carried upwardly against the wall 40 of the hopper and since a portion of the briquet would be portions of the drums 3st and 35.

below the edge of the wall there might be danger of crushing the briquet against the wall. To avoid this, the series of narrow grooves 4-1 is formed in the surface of the drums between the grooves 38, and the wall 40 is provided with tongues projecting into the grooves 41. Since these tongues extend inward to the bottoms of the grooves 4.1 and their inner ends register with the bottoms of the grooves 39 they will lift any briquets from the grooves 39 and prevent them from being crushed against the wall 40. A. strip per plate is provided for the roller 35 having tongues thereon similar to the tongues on the wall 40. The drums 34 and may also be provided with spring plungers 51 which assist in agitating the briquets within the hopper 33 and which pass through openings provided in the stripper plate 50 in the wall a0 for this purpose.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 9, a bar is secured to the frame member let and extends transversely thereof below the drums 34 and A series of bars 53 are attached to the bar 52 and extend upwardly therefrom in parallel spaced relation, as shown in Figs. 16 and W. The side edges of the bars 53 are provided with vertical grooves 5%. shown in Figs 17 and 19, and the bars are arranged in proper spaced relation to one another so that a briquet will enter between the bars and will be held in place between the bars by projection of its edges into the grooves 5%. The bars 53 are so arranged between the drums 3-1 and 35 that the spaces between the bars register with the openings formed by the peripheral grooves 38 in the drum. In this way the briquets will pass from the hopper 33 and are guided int-.0 the runways formed between the upright bars 53. The tops of the bars are beveled as shown at 55, Fig. 21, the beveled surfaces being shaped to conform to the periphery of the outermost Tongues 56 extend upwardly at each side of the beveled portions 55 and project into the grooves 38 to prevent the briquets from escaping laterally or wedging as they emerge from the hopper. The grooves 542 are of sufficient depth to cut through the tongues 56 as shown at 57 in Fig. 21. This leaves the channel between the tongues on adjacent. plates the full width of the groove 38 so that the tongues projecting into the groove 38 will not interfere with the passage of the briquets into the channel. The drums 3e and are provided with intermeshing gears 58, Fig. '4', the gears being secured to shafts 59 and 60, respectively, which carry the drums and A pulley 81 is secured to the shaft 59 and receives a belt 62 driven by a pulley 63 mounted on the stud shaft 6 carried by the bracket 12. A gear 65 is secured to the pulley G3 and meshes with a gear 66 on the shaft 8. A bracket 67 is adjustably is provided with a piate 72. the face of which registers with. the top of the table 70. The bracket 71 assists in sup iorting the frame 1 1 and the frame at the outer end of the bracket 71 has a stud shaft 73 fixed thereto, as shown in Figs. 5 and 10. A sprocket wheel 7 1 is journaled on the stud shaft 73 and a sprocket chain 75-is guided over the wheel 7 4. Alternate links in the sprocket chain 75 comprise blocks 76 having grooves 77 formed in their outer faces transversely of the chain 75, the grooves constituting receptacles or buckets for receiving the briquets. The'end of the chain 75 opposite the sprocket wheel 74L passes over a second sprocket wheel 80 secured on the shaft 81 journaled in the side plates 78 and 79, as shown in Figs. 21 and 22. The shaft 81 extends forwardly through the side plates 78 and has its outer end journaled in the cover plate 82. Between the side plate 78 and cover plate 82 a ratchet wheel 83 is secured to the shaft 81 and an arm 8 1 is disposed adjacent the ratchet wheel 83 and is freely mounted on the shaft 81. j The arm 84 carries a pawl 85, which engages the ratchet wheel 83 and the arm is oscillated by a link 86, which is bifurcated at its lower end and is slidably mounted on the drive shaft 30, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The link 86 is oscillated by a cam roller 87 which operates in a groove formed in a cam 88 secured to the shaft 30.

By this mechanism periodic movement is guide strip 92 slidably mounted atthe opposite edge thereof and held in position by screws 93 passing through slots 94 so as to permit slight vertical movement of the strip 92. The adjacent edges of the strips 91 and 92 have grooves 95 formed therein to form guides for the briquets, one of which is shown in broken lines at 96 in Fig. 14. The outer faces of the ribs are inclined at progressively different angles. The tops of the ribs have their outer faces arranged in alignment so that the slideways formed by the grooves register at their upper ends with the lower ends of the slideways between the bars 53. The lower ends of the slideways formed by the grooves 95 are arranged in o'll'set relation over the buckets 77. as shown in Fig. 10. Each. slideway is positioned outwardly beyond the next adjacent siii'leway by an amount equal to the thickness of one briquet.

The driving mechanism for the conveyor chain 75 is so adjusted relative to the other parts of the machine that the conveyor is brought to rest after each movement with the buckets thereon in registration with the lower ends of the slideways 95. of piungers 97 have their forward ends projecting through the plates 89 in position to bear against the lowermost briquet in each guideway 95. The plungers 97 are held againstthe briquets by springs 98 and are periodically released to permit the col.- umn of briquets in the slideway 95 to drop downwardly by gravity. The lower ends of the slideways 95 are disposed above the bottoms of the buckets 77 a suflicient dis tance to clear the upper edges of the buckets. The plungers 97 are released only momentarily, and after the columns of briquets have moved downwardly to deposit a briquet from the lower end of each column the plungers 97 are again pressed forwardly by their springs 98 to engage the lowermost briquet in each column to prevent further downward movement during the neat forward movement of the buckets 77. After each movement of the conveyor a briquet is deposited in each of the buckets 77. As a single bucket is moved to the right as viewed in Fig. 5 across the bat tery of slideways the first slideway deposits a briquet at the forward end of the bucke The conveyor is then moved one step, after which the second slideway deposits a briquet adjacent the briquet deposited by the first slideway. At each movement of the conveyor an additional briquet is deposited in each of the buckets registering with the slideways. so that as each bucket emerges from beneath the series of slideways it is filled with a continuous row of briquets, there being one briquet in the bucket for each of the slideways. In the present can bodiment of the invention ten slideways are shown and the bucl'zets are made of the proper length to contain ten briquets; It will thus be seen that but a single briquet is deposited in each bucket at one time, but that for each movement of the conveyor a completely filled bucket is brought from beneath the battery of slideways.

The piungers 97 are operated by a pressure bar 99. which is provided with a vertical web 100 having perforations through A series which the plungers 97 pass, the springs 93 bearing against the web 100 and against collars 101 for exerting the resilient pressure to hold the ends of the plunger-s against the hriqnets. The pressure bar 99 is carried by arms 102 secured to the shaft 103 which is joru'nalcd in webs 104 and 105 on the frame 14. The shaft 103 is provided at one end with a rocker arm 106 by means of which the shaft 103 is oscillated. lVhen the shaft 103 is moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 9, the web 101 will engage collars 107 on the pl ungers 97 and thus move the plungcrs 97 rearwardly and release thebriqnets in the slideways. When the shaft returns in a counter-clockwise direction the springs 98 will be again compressed to force the ilungers 97 forwardly against the briquets in the slideways. The oscillation of the arm 106 is accomplished by a link 108 pivoted at 109 to the end of the arm 106. The link 108 extends rearwardly as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. and is pivotally connected at 110 to the upper end of a lever 111. The lower end of the lever 111 is journaled on ashaft 112 and between the ends a cam roller 11.3 is mounted on the ever 111 and engages a groove in a cam 114 carried by the shaft 26. Each revolution of the shaft 26 produces an oscillation of the lever 11.1 and consequently releases the plungers 97. Since the shaft 26 and the shaft 30 rotate at the same speed. there will be one oscillation of the pressure bar 99 for each forward movement of the conveyor chain and the buckets 77 If for any reason a slideway 95 fails to deliver a briquet at any operation of the machine. it is desirable that the machine shall be stopped in order that the shortage may be supplied to the bucket which fai ed to receive its proper quota and in order that the difliculty which caused the failure may be removed. To accomplish this result each of the plungers 97 has associated therewith means for disconnecting the clutch 22 by which the pulley wheel 18 is held to the sleeve 23. It will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4 that the sleeve is provided with a peripheral groove 115. which engages a pin 116 on the lower end of a clutch lever 117 pivotally mounted at 113 on a bracket 119 carried by the frame 1. The upper end of the lever 117 is provided with a rectangular pin or projection 120. The projection 120 is disposed above a link 121 having a notch 122 therein and the projection 120 normally engages the notch 122. The link 121 is pivoted at 123 to an arm 124. the arm being secured to a shaft 125 provided with a downwardly extending arm 126 having a roller 127 which travels in a groove formed in a cam 128 on shaft 30. By this mechanism the link 121 is moved to the right as viewed in 3 at each rotation of the shaft 30, and it will be apparent that should the link 12! remain in position with the notch 122 in registration with the pin 120 the increment of the link 121 would rotate the clutch lever about its pivot 11S and disengage the clutch 122, thus stopping the machine. The link 121 is supported by an upright link 129 pivoted at its upper end to an arm 130 secured to a shaft 11 downwardly extending arm 132 is loosely mounted on the shaft 131 and is provided with a laterally extending lug 133, which engages a complementary lug 134 fixed to the arm 130. The arm 132 is provided with a branch arm 135. and a spring 136 connects the branch arm 13?) with the lever 130. The tension of the spring normally holds the lugs 133 and 134 in contact with one another. The arm 132 is given an oscillation at each rotation of the shaft 30 by means of a cam roller 137 which engages a groove in cam 138 on shaft 30. lVhen the arm 132 moves in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, it will exert tension on the spring 132. tending to rotate the arm 130 and shaft 131 in the same direction. which rotation will take place if the shaft 131 is free to move. Such rotation during normal operation lowers the link 121. at the time it is moved by lever 124 to free the notch 122 from the lug 120. At the end of the shaft 131 adjacent the support 14 the shaft is provided with an upright arm 139. as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A control bar 140 is pivotally connected at 141 to the upper end of the link 139. as shown best in Figs. 6 and 10. The control bar 140 is supported to slide in brackets 142 and is provided with openings 143 through which the plungers 97 extend. Each plunger 97 is provided at its end with a head 144 of a size to pass easily into the openings 143. The opening 143 is sufficient to permit oscillation of the bar 140 imparted thereto by the arm 139 whenever theplungers are in the position shown in Fig. 10. so that the heads 144 are in the rear of the control bar 140. If one of the slideways 55 shou d fail. to receive a briquet at its lower end for any cause such as exhaustion of the supply in the hopper or clogging of the runways. the corresponding plunger would be free to move forwardly a suflicient distance to bring its head 144 into the opening 143 in the control bar 140. In this way oscillation of the control bar 140 would be blocked so that at the next movement of the machine the shaft 131 would be held from rotation and movement of the lever arm 132 would merely serve to stretch the spring 136 and arm 130 and suspension link 129 would remain stationary. The cams 128 and 138 are so formed relative to one another that in the normal action of the machine the link 121 is moved to the right in Fig. 3 at the time that the arm 132 is held at its outermost position. This will permit the link 121 to be dropped downwardly to disengage the parts and 122 during the oscillation of the link 121 when there is no obstruction to rotation of the shaft it'll. When the shalt is held against rotation, however, 2 y the heads ll l interfering with the use ration oi the control bar 1 10, the link 121 will be held in its uppermost position with the parts 120 and 122 in cngageniient with one another during oscillation of the arm 1 1. This.v as explained before, will disengage the clutch 122 and stop the machine. It will thus be seen that it for any reason the stream of briquets in the slideways is interfered with, the plunger 97 which registers with the particular slideway in trouble will automatically detect the absence of the normal supply and cause the operation of the machine to cease.

Means is also provided for manually stopping the machine through the medium of the slide bar 140, as shown in Fig. 10. This consists of a plunger 156 having a finger button 157 thereon and having a spring 158 to hold it in retracted position. The plunger 156 rgisters with an opening 159 in the control slide bar 1 10, so that it the operator presse" inwardly on the button 15. the slide M0 will be held againstmoveinent and the clutch will. be operated in the manner already described to stop the machine.

Means is also provided for automatically stopping the machine in case one of the lnickets T7 is not completely filled. This provides an additional check on the operation ot' the machine, supplementing the check produced by the plungers 97. "he mechanism for automatically stopping the nrchine in case a bucket 7'? is not properly l is shown in Figs. 7, 10 and d to the arm 106 which oscillates the pnssure plate 99 is a plate 160 having a yoke 161 attached thereto, providing a slide- :i' for a bar 163. The bar 163 has an ex- .n 16% pivoted thereto at 165, and the the extension 16% projects through a in the side plate '79 ot the conveyor iilmvay. A spring 166 bears against the on 16-l and normally urges the end ot the enicnsion toward the conveyor. lilach 1i'i :ve1i1ei1t ot the c-onvej or brings one of the lill 'n is into registration with the end of? the extension 164. so that the extension linsieldingly presses against the re 1 quet in the bucket. 3:. plate All? e in re i'ul'llly under the er. A. pin 163 in posiczz'n'i the yoke 161 that each time the rocked to rele so ihe pres"- :9 97 the some movement W11;

, are on the (.XiTGYlflOn arm 1 ie Iiriquets will be free from pres sure during the forward movement of the conveyor. The pivotal connection permits the arm 164 to swing in the direction oi the movement of the com'eyor to preventany interference in case the extension linger is projected into one of the buckets at the time that the conveyor moves forward. The lower edge of the slide bar 163 is provided with a notch 169, which registers with a notch formed in the upper face oi the bar 1&0. lVhen the linger 164 strikes the briquets of a full bucket the forward movement of the linger will be arrested with the notch 169 in registration with the upper face of the bar 1&0. In this position the slide bar 163 will not interfere with the movement of the control bar 140. If, however, the number of briquets in a bucket '77 is short the extension finger 164.- and the slide bar 163 will move forwardly when the arm 106 is rocked until the notch 160 moves out ot registration with the notch 170 and the pro jection 171 at the end of the bar 163 will move into the notch 170. In this position the control bar 140 will be arrested and the operating clutch will be thrown out and the machine stopped in a mannersiinilar to that which occurs when the control bar is ariested by one of the heads 1%.

It will thus be seen that a double check is provided on the operation oi the mach ne to insure complete filling oi? the buckets. In the first place, it any one of the slideways fails to provide. its quota of briquets the machine will be stopped, and as an additional safeguard each bucket is tested tor a complete measure and in case of shortage in any bucket the machine is fHllZOll'lHhlCull. stopped.

To prevent sticking or" the articles in the g slideway one of the guidehars 92 tor each slideway has a limited vertical movement. as previously stated. These slidebars are oscillated up and down at each operation of the machine. This oscillation is produced by means of blocks 182 nbjecting rearwardly at the top end of each side bar 02. as shown in Figs. 13 and 14-. Near the top of the frame 14. there is iournaled seai'i: 193 having a plate 19 1 thereon which ex tends beneath the rearwardh. projecting blocks 102. This plate is shown in :1 and Each of the blocks 192 provide l with a spring 195 attached to the plate 1:. so that the blocks are vieldingly held downwardly against the top face of the plate. A link 196 is pivoted to an arm 19? secured to the shaft 193, and the lower end of the link is pivoted to an arm 198 secured to the shaft 103. At each oscillation of the shaft 103 the side bars 92 ot the slideways will be oscillated up and down to release any briquets within the slidewa v which have a tendency to clog or stick. The upward movement of the sides 92 of the slideways 95 also frees the top portion of the briquets so they are permitted to move forwardly with the conveyor. It will be seen from Fig. 5 that the lower ends of the slideways just clear thetops of the buckets 77, and since the briquets project above the tops of the buckets it is necessary to raise the forward side members of the slideways to free the tops of the briquets after they have been deposited in the buckets. The bars 92 are normally in the upper position to permit forward movement of the conveyor and are dropped at the time the plungers 07 are released to discharge briquets. as will be apparent from Fig. 9. The offset relation of the slideways 95 permits each b'riquet after it has been deposited to pass the lower ends of the slideways without interference since the deposited briquets travel in path outside of the succeeding slideways. It will be seen, however, that each briquet must pass the front face of the next succeeding slideway, and if these faces were left open as they are throughout the major portion of the length of the slideway there would be danger that the briquets would turn slightly and that their forward edges would catch in the open fronts of the slideways. To prevent this, thin plates 200 are connected across the front faces of the slideways at their bottom ends. I

lVhen the buckets filled with the requisite number of briquets reach the end of the conveyor 12 they are guided about the end sprocket as shown in Fig. 1, and each bucket as it moves downwardly is stopped in a position in which the open face is disposed laterally away from the end of the conveyor. lVhile the bucket is in this position the briquets are slid along the bucket char nel and are moved in the direction of the length of the channel out of the bucket. This movement is accomplished by means of a pair of transfer arms 201 and 202. These arms are secured in spaced relation to a shaft 203 mounted for front rear sliding movement in the frame of the ma chine. is shown in Fig. 2. the rear end of the shaft 203 is connected to a crosshead 20-1 having a linlc 205 pivoted thereto. The opposite end of the link is pivoted to a lever at 206. which is journaled at its lower end to the shaft 112 and which is provided with a cam roller 20. operating in a groove formed in a cam 208 fast on shaft 26. The upper end 209 of the transfer arm 201 has its rear face arranged in alignment with the inner wall of the guide plate 78 at the time that the conveyor is traveling to move a bucket into discharge position. The offset portion 200 of the arm 201 is in alignment with the bucket channel when the bucket comes to rest. s the shaft 203 moves rearwardly the portion 209 slides the briquets before it along the bucket channel and discharges them from the inner end thereof. During this discharge movement the briquets have their forward ends supported on an extension 210 of a receiving plate 211 onto which the briquets are moved from the bucket. The transfer arm 202 carries a head 212 having a rod 213 slidably mounted therein and supporting a contact plate 21% for engaging the inner end of the series of briquets. The contact plate 214- is pushed forwardly by a spring 215 surrounding the rod 213. A shoulder 21G limits the forward movement of the plate 214 so that its forward face is in alignment with the forward face of the guide plate T9 at the time that the bucket is moved into its discharge position. is soon as the transfer arms begin to move rearwardly so as to free the shoulder 216 from the guide plate '79 the spring 215 will move the plate 21% toward the head 209 so as to clamp the briquets between the two transfer arms and thus hold them in their assembled relation. during the discharge from the bucket onto the receiving plate 211.

is shown in Fig. 8, a pair of feed rollers 21? are supported on brackets 218 in position to guide a web of paper or other wrapping material. past the front face of the receiving plate 211. While the transfer arms 201 and 202 hold the briquets in position on the receiving plate 211 a pusher 220 engages the inner ends of the briquets and moves them to the right as viewed in Fig. 8, from the receiving plate 211 onto a table 221. During this movement the briquets engage the paper 219 which has been cutinto proper sizes and is partially folded about the briquets. Other mechanism is provided for further folding the paper about the series of hriquets and securely wrapping the same into a paclmge but the wrapping mechanism is not a part of the present invention except in combination with the assembling mechanism described. The wrappers are supplied from a roll 222 and are severed into proper sizes by knives 223 mounted above the feed rolls 217. The pusher 220 is operated by a lever arm 22% pivotally mounted at 225 and provided with a roller 220 which engages a cam 227 on the shaft 30.

I claim:

1. In hopper discharging mechanism, a roller for feeding articles from a hopper, said roller having spaced abutments thereon forming a groove extending longitudinally of said roller for agitating the articles in said hopper, the outer surfaces of. said abutments being extended peripherally of said roller greater distances than the width of said groove.

2. The combination with a hopper. of a roller for controlling the discharge of articles from said hopper, said roller having spaced circumferential grooves therein exllt Ill 

